The Prince's Crush
by YummyYaoiSandwiches
Summary: He could do this. He was Tamaki Suoh. Beloved by hundreds of beautiful girls. The handsomest face the world had ever seen. The infamous president of the Ouran Host Club! He could do this. ... Couldn't he? Can Tamaki confess his feelings for his adorable senpai? What will happen if he does? What will Mori have to say about the situation? Honey/Tamaki, shounen-ai, boyXboy.
1. Something of a Prologue

**Chapter 1- Something of a Prolouge**

Tamaki brought his thumb to his mouth and bit down on the tip of it as he watched the other boy silently, out of the corner of his eye, so entranced he didn't even blink.

With rapt attention, his eyes followed the bite of cake as it made it's way off the plate, onto the fork, and into the waiting mouth of the other boy. It was almost like the scene was playing out in slow motion. Lips parting ever so slowly, mouth open just long enough to slowly slide the cake inside before they closed again, almost more slowly than before, before opening once more just enough for his tongue to slip out and lick away the crumbs that had been left behind.

The club's prince gulped, telling himself the whole time what he was feeling and thinking was wrong, but still unable to tear his eyes away. The other boy continued to eat his cake with a happy grin, oblivious to the pair of blue eyes watching his every move.

It wasn't right, he thought to himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to shake the thoughts he was having about the smallest member of the host club. Mitsukuni Haninozuka. Devourer of cake, destroyer of Green Berets, lover of all cute things.

Of course, that was exactly the problem. In Tamaki's eyes, Honey was the cutest thing of all. His laugh, his smile, his cheerful and kind personality, the way he was always cradling that stuffed bunny, it made his heart beat faster every time he saw them. Even for all his incredibly naive ways, even Tamaki could no longer kid himself. He'd force fed himself every excuse he could possibly think of until he sincerely couldn't come up with even one more.

He had a crush on Honey-senpai.

And absolutely no idea what to do.

"Tamaki? Is there something wrong? Your face is all red."

"Oh no, does he have a fever?"

His eyes snapped back to his guests, his signature charming smile appearing on his way once more as he instantly slipped back into charming prince mode. He leaned in close to the nearest girl, gazing into her eyes, as he had so many times before.

"I'm sorry my love, I truly didn't mean to worry you. It's just that my love for you has grown so large and so strong that it can no longer be contained by my heart alone and seems to have spread all the way to my face!"

"Ooooooh, Tamaki!"

"Oooooooh!"

He tried his best to push his previous thoughts to the back of his mind as he went back to entertaining his guests, just like he always did. He could not simply neglect the lovely ladies to ponder his own horrid thoughts.

But by this time, he knew all too well that no matter what he did, they would resurface again. Soon...

Being flipped head over heels into the floor and subsequently picked up and slammed face-first into the wall by Mori-senpai was a frequent thought of the blonde prince these days. Not that it was something he wanted to think about, but it was a thought he couldn't shake.

The tall, silent male stood next to Honey, just like always, as he was sitting at a table in the corner finishing up some cake before they all went home. The rest of the club members were all getting ready to depart for the day, merely idly hanging around while Kyoya finished calculating the days data.

What WOULD Mori-senpai do if he ever found out?

He snuck another glance at the pair of cousins from his seat on the couch. A small smile somehow managed to worm his way across his handsome features as he watched the small boy devour his cake, looking for all the world like a happy child on Christmas.

That was another thing. How on earth could such a small, adorable creature as Honey-senpai really be his senior? How could such a creature really be a whole year older than he was?

His thoughts began to wander at that. What would Honey-senpai look like if he was of normal size? Tall, handsome... taller than Tamaki was? A less rounded face... deeper voice... perhaps... soft hands. Soft hands reaching out to stroke his cheek, those lips raised in a small smile, slowly drawing the prince closer, closer, closer to his own face until-...

"Tama-chan?"

The soft, high voice catapulted him out of his thoughts as fast as he imagined Mori-senpai could fling him into the wall. Confused, his eyes darted back and forth for a moment before settling to where they had been in the first place. Engrossed in his own perverted fantasies, he hadn't noticed that at some point, Honey had looked from his cake and caught him staring in his direction with a dreamy look on his face. The older boy was looking at him with curiosity and just a hint of concern, big brown eyes blinking slowly at him, expectantly. Mori was also watching him, with his equivalent of a curious expression.

Tamaki jerked, caught of guard. "Ah-... Uh-... Er-... I was just-..." The prince fumbled for words, trying to look nonchalant and failing miserably. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. In panic he switched to gesturing erractically, all too aware of how ridiculous he must look, all the while trying desparetely to force sound out of his throat.

Honey frowned and blinked a few times, seeing this was going nowhere and spoke up. "Are you okay? Your face is really, really red. Usa-chan thinks so too."

"Mm." Mori grunted.

He froze, mind-racing. Okay, so he had just made a complete and total fool of himself. Calm down. Think. There's a way out of this.

"I... I... I-I-I-I... I'm just fine, Honey-senpai! Thanks for asking! Ha... ha..."

With record speed, he leapt up from the couch, grabbed his things, and was standing in the doorway to the clubroom.

"I need to head home now! See you guys tomorrow!"

The doors slammed shut behind him. The entire rest of the club stared at them, mouth agape, not sure what in the world they had just witnessed. I mean sure, the host's resident princely character had always had a penchant for overly-dramatic performances, but where had that even come from?

Tamaki stood there, heart racing, just holding onto the door handles. He took a deep breath - and slowly released it, before turning around and slumping back against the door with a sigh.

What was that? Why had he acted like such a fool? Surely they were all discussing the incident already. What was he supposed to tell them? He could only be thankful that tomorrow was Sunday, and he wouldn't have to see them at school, giving him that much more time to come up with a plausible excuse for his behavior. Yes, yes of course. Everything would be fine.

...

... everything would not be fine. Who was he trying to kid? Every single thing he could think of had already failed. Even if he came up with an excuse to appease the other hosts, it didn't change the fact that he had fallen for his senpai. Hard.

As much as he hated to admit it, there was only one thing to do. Things would only get worse if left as they were. Honey would hate him, Mori-senpai would slam him into the wall, and once he regained consciousness, he would slink off to some dark corner, never to be seen again.

He had to tell Honey-senpai how he felt.

He could do this. He was Tamaki Suoh. Beloved by hundreds of beautiful girls. The handsomest face the world had ever seen. The infamous president of the Ouran Host Club! He could do this!

... Couldn't he?

**This is a pairing I find really interesting. While it's one of the more unusual, I wonder how it ****would play out. There are really far too few fics for it in my opinion, so I'm adding my own to the list. Next chapter soon! Please tell me what you think, and thanks for reading!**

**YummyYaoiSandwiches**

**(And remember: Barney loves you! ... wait, no, that's not it. Oh, right. Remember! I take requests. Just ask in a review or PM me any time!)**


	2. A Commoner's Advice

**Chapter 2 – A Commoner's Advice**

There he was, standing helplessly in the seemingly endless black void. Cold, alone, scared, glancing about desperately for some kind of way out. He gasped and jumped five feet in the air as a bolt of lightning flashed right in front of his face, closely followed by ear-shattering thunder as the earth slowly began to quake beneath him. He could only stand and watch as a 300 foot tall Honey-senpai slowly rose up from the ground, a giant plate of cake in one hand and a colossal fork in the other. The giant Honey-senpai licked his lips, letting out a booming "Mmmmmm!" before slamming the fork into the ground, mere inches from where Tamaki stood.

"Look, it's Tama-chan! Would you like to have some cake with me?"

With no warning, suddenly, slices of cake began to rain down from the sky, all different flavors and shapes, pelting Tamaki in the head one after the other. Trembling, the blonde turned to run only to find that his legs were seemingly frozen in place. He looked down and was horrified to find Usa-chan holding onto his legs, an angry glare fixed upon the bunny's normally cute face. He tried as hard as he could to put them away, but it was all in vain for the bunny held him firm. All he could do was stand there as the raining cakes slowly piled around him, higher, higher, until they were up to his face and he had to desperately gasp for breath. He took one last look at the giant Honey-senpai's face- smiling down at him, before breaking out into a sinister chuckle, then a full out evil laugh. The sound of the booming laughter flooded Tamaki's ears, the last thing he heard before the cake swallowed him whole.

Tamaki blinked, shaking his head to try and clear away the image. Now was not the time to be busying himself with silly, impossible, utterly terrifying fantasies like that.

Once again, he stood outside the clubroom, the same spot he'd been for the last ten minutes. Everyone else had already arrived, he could hear them, and he was surely late by this time- which was certainly not behavior befitting a prince, to be late to the very club of which he was in charge, especually if it was for no good reason at all, only his own pathetic cowardice.

He'd mercilessly racked his brain over the weekend for an idea, an excuse, any clue as to what to do or say once he had to face the other members of the club, and had come up with nothing. Zero. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing except perhaps for a severe reaction to hay fever, which upon thinking about it some more he realized wouldn't work because it was Fall. Keeping with the theme, the next thing his brain suggested was cabin fever, but no matter how hard he tried to make THAT work, he simply couldn't, although he did mentally file it away for use at a later date, should the need ever arise. Cabin fever. Hm. From what he'd heard it sounded like something commoners would be more likely to come down with, what with living in those tiny little apartments. He'd have to ask Haruhi later.

With a frustrated sigh, he stared helplessly up at the double doors, which he could've sworn were mocking him, somehow. He knew he couldn't stand out here forever, but couldn't seem to force himself to go inside. Surely he'd already incurred the wrath of Kyoya for being so late. It would only get worse the longer he waited...

He sucked in a deep breath, and mentally braced himself. He let it slowly before assuming his best princely smile, grabbing hold of the door handle, turning and striding as confidently and casually as he could into the club room before he could decide to chicken out and flee in the other direction. He could only pray that today wouldn't end in disaster...

Tamaki gave himself a mental pat on the back, because although he knew that truly he was only stalling, he had still managed to successfully avoid any kind of prolonged conversation with any of the other hosts all day. As soon as he'd entered the club room, he'd immediately busied himself with entertaining the guests, and hadn't paused for a breather even once, leaving no openings for anyone to accost him with their raised eyebrows and baseless accusations. He ignored any looks of concern sent his way and not once did he even glance in Hone-... Honey-... in a certain person's general direction. Making lady after lady blush and swoon with some of the best lines he'd thought up all month, he was the very picture of normalcy! Anyone who would accuse him otherwise was very obviously suffering from a late case of hay fever. Or something like that.

He was just making his way across the room, waving a sweet goodbye and blowing kisses to one table of ladies as he made his way over to the next, only to bump into someone while he wasn't paying attention. His head whipped around in time to see Haruhi frantically scrambling to regain her balance and not drop the tea pot she'd been carrying. Thankfully successful, she huffed and puffed a few times before turning to fix Tamaki with a hard glare.

"Watch were you're going, senpai! I almost dropped this expensive tea spot. The last thing I need is for my debt to go up just because you weren't paying attention!"

He flinched, backing away slightly. He simply couldn't stand for his daughter to be angry at him. He was about to try and stutter out words of apology, before something in his brain... clicked as he looked into Haruhi's angry eyes.

Haruhi...

Smart, down-to-earth, Haruhi! I mean sure, she was naive, but perhaps her blunter-than-a-baseball-bat manner could shed new light on the situation and show it to him from a side he'd never thought of before! If nothing else, unlike the others, she'd never tell! It was perfect!

His hand shot out and landed around Haruhi's wrist.

She blinked and stared at him. "Senpai...?"  
With that, holding firmly onto the small girl, the blonde took off running full speed towards the closet across the room. Haruhi could only scream confused protests as she was practically dragged across the room, the tea pot slipping from her grasp, plummeting down to the floor below and shattering into a million pieces. How many more thousand yen was that, now?

The closet door slammed shut behind him, Haruhi's angry cries silenced as Tamaki clamped a hand over her mouth. He glanced about suspiciously, as though there could possibly be someone else in the closet with them, before turning back to Haruhi and putting a finger to his lips. "Shhhhhhhh!" He slowly removed his hand from her mouth.

Big mistake.

"TAMAKI-SENPAI! Have you lost your mind?! What are you doing?! Can't you see I was-...!"

"SHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tamaki waved his hands frantically. "They'll hear us!"

"Senpai, everyone in the room saw you charge in here like a crazed bull! Look, if you dragged me in here to tell me one of your ridiculous plans, I-...!"

"It's not that!" He whispered loudly. "There's something else I need to talk to you about! It's important."

"Senpai-...!"

"PLEASE!"

"Ugh, fine, whatever, spit it out, I haven't got all day you know!"

"It's about Honey-senpai!"

He stopped short as all of a sudden his heart seemed to jump into his throat. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his frayed nerves. Stay calm, this is the easy part... deep breaths...

Haruhi watched him impatiently, seething. As she continued to wait though, she felt her anger slowly fading away. Upon closer inspection, Tamaki really did look kind of upset about something. Not his usual overly-dramatic, over-the-top upset, either.

Finally, she spoke up. "... Senpai? Are you alright?"

Tamaki exhaled one more time, swallowed, and straightened up to look the other in the eye. It was now or never.

"Yes... yes, I'm fine. It's just... there's something I need to tell you."

"Ooookay. What is it?"

"It's... it's a secret. You have to promise not to tell anyone. Especially not the other club members."

"Okay, I promise. What's your problem?"

Stay calm. Spit it out. Everything's gonna be fine. You can do this, Tamaki. You can do this...

"What are Tamaki and Haruhi doing in that closet?"

"What's going on, why did they rush in there so suddenly?"

"Do you think Tamaki's confessing his love?!"  
"And then what happens after that with the two of them in that closet?!"

_**"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

The rest of the club looked on as the guests went into an excited fit at the thought of Tamaki and Haruhi doing something scandolous in a closet. They also wondered what was going on naturally, but they were rather a bit less... enthusiastic.

"Kyoya-senpai?" The twins said in unison and slowly slid up to the bespetacled boy. "Do you have any idea what's going on here?"

"No, and I get the feeling I really don't want to."

**There we have the second chapter! Sorry we don't see what happens next just yet, but it'll be up soon, I promise! Stay tuned and have some cake, folks! Thanks again for reading, and any and all comments are appreciated. Special thanks to one person following this! It encouraged me to try and get this up faster instead of waiting around.**

**Next chapter: Operation Confess to Honey-senpai!**


	3. Operation Confess to Honey-senpai Part 1

**Chapter 3 - Operation Confess to Honey-senpai Part 1! **

_**"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"**_

"SHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tamaki flailed his arms frantically, trying in vain to get his beloved daughter to lower the volume a bit. When she only continued to sputter in shock and confusion, he whipped around and locked the closet door, pushing and pulling a few times to make sure it was really locked. Once he was sure the door wasn't budging, he turned back around to try and calm Haruhi down. Despite his best attempts it was going no where and as it turned out, once again a palm pressed firmly over her mouth was the only way to silence the brunette's astonished, semi-coherent ramblings.

"Haruhiiiiiii!" He whined in a low voice. "Pleeeeeeease!"

Eyes wide, Haruhi continued to struggle against his hand for a few more moments before finally seeming to regain her composure, closing her eyes and sucking in a deep breath through her nose. She let it out slowly after a few seconds and opened her eyes, looking up at the president of the host club and waiting, somewhat impatiently, for him to remove his hand.

He watched her carefully and hesitated a little. Finally, seemingly satisfied that she was at least semi-calm, slowly removed his palm and watched her expectantly, dreading what she might say next.

"... Wow, senpai." She muttered, still getting the last of her thoughts together. "I never had any idea you were-..."

Unfortunately, it seemed it was now Tamaki's turn to lose his marbles.

"I KNOW I KNOW, I'M SICK AND CREEPY AND IT'S WRONG AND YOU NEVER KNEW I WAS SUCH A HUGE PERVERT! I didn't mean for this to happen, it just did! I tried everything to try and get rid of it but I didn't know what to do! He's gonna hate me and Mori-senpai's gonna pick me up and throw me out the window and then leap out after me and catch me before I hit the ground just so he can drown me in the fountain and then he'll leave toss my lifeless body to the stray dogs-!"

He stopped to gasp for air, hunched over panting with a look of utter shame adorning his gorgeous face. This was all a mistake. He should've just jumped out the window himself and saved Mori-senpai the trouble.

"... actually I was gonna say 'into that'. I never had any idea you were that way. I mean sure, you have that whole 'mommy' thing going with Kyoya-senpai but I didn't think..."

The blonde froze. What? She... _didn't_ think he was a pervert?

Slowly, timidly, he raised his head and looked at her. She appeared to be in thought and was staring off into space with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I mean, it's not like I care or anything. After all I always say it's who you are that matters, not what sex you are..."

She turned back to him.

"... Still, I have to say I'm surprised that of all people you'd fall for Honey-senpai. I mean, since when? Does he know?"

"Of course he doesn't know!" Tamaki cried. "Does it look like I'm stray dog food to you? That's the whole problem! I don't know what to do-!"

"... So, you wanna tell him then?" Haruhi thought for a moment. "Well... why not just do it? I'm not sure I heard all of your crazy rant exactly right senpai, but if you're worried about how he'd react, I'm sure everything would turn out fine. Come on, we're talking about Honey-senpai here. It's not like he'd go psycho martial arts master on you over something like that."

"That's not what I'm worried about!" He dropped dramatically to the ground, drawing his knees up to his chest and looking ridiculously depressed, as he was prone to doing. "I'm not afraid he's gonna hurt me. Even if he did, it wouldn't matter as long as we could still be..." Tamaki paused to gulp loudly. "-... friends. But what if I told him and he hated me for it? What if he thought I was some kind of sick freak? I AM some kind of sick freak! Besides, it's Mori-senpai who's going to put me into the wall."

"What are you rambling about?" She sighed, staring down at her senpai in mild exasperation. "You're delusional. Honey-senpai could never hate you, especially for something as trivial as that. I can't speak for Mori-senpai but even if he didn't like it I'm sure he'd never over-react like that. You're the only one here who's over-reacting."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, lifting his head ever so slightly, just the tiniest glint of hope shimmering in his eyes. "Do you really think so, Haruhi?"

"Well, yeah. Besides I really don't see what's supposed to be so wrong about it. Honey-senpai may look like an elementary school student but you know just as well as I do that he's a whole year older than you, if that's what you're worried about. If it's because you're a guy I already said, it's who you are that matters. If you really feel that way about him I say you should just tell him."

"So... so you really don't think I'm weird?!" Tamaki sprang up happily, staring at Haruhi like an excitable puppy before enveloping her in a near suffocating hug. "Thank you Haruhi-!"

"I never said you weren't weird..." Haruhi muttered under her breath. "But you're weird for different reasons. So is this all you wanted to talk about senpai? 'Cause we should really both be getting back to work."

He reluctantly let go, still smiling but now it wavered a bit, his uncertainty creeping back to his attention. Could it really be so simple?

"Yes, yes I suppose you're right... but... you _really _think I should just...?"

"I don't see why not. You're not gonna get anywhere from waiting around."

Tamaki nodded slowly. This plan seemed to have worked out well after all. And yet, somehow, he almost wished it hadn't. Why did she have to be so right? We did she just have to go and reaffirm what he truly already knew?

"Tamaki, a word?"

Kyoya's voice sounded from behind him. The prince turned around slowly to meet his friend's eyes, who was looking at him with a look of suspicion, slight irritation and just the barest hint of confusion. He had been on his way to sit with yet another table of customers when the bespectacled boy had stopped him, and he was tempted to say he was too busy to talk. Of course, he knew Kyoya- that was not gonna fly.

"Sure." He responded cooly, trying to keep any hint of nervousness out of his voice and mostly succeeding. Mostly. And Kyoya being Kyoya, even that tiny shred was not missed.

He quirked an eyebrow at his friend, sending him a look that said he wasn't in the mood for any silly games the prince might decide to try and play. Tamaki swallowed, focusing on maintaining a nonchalant expression.

"Not that it's any of my business..." The other boy began slowly. "But the other hosts and I couldn't help but notice you've been behaving even more bizarrely than usual. Is there something going on that you aren't telling us?"

Panic rose in the blonde's throat. Stay calm now. Everything was totally fine. He could totally get through this as long as he acted normal. Anything even slightly less would only alert Kyoya more.

"Wha-what are you talking about? Everything's fine."

"I see. Would you perhaps care to share with us exactly what you and Haruhi were conspiring about in the closet?"

"Hurk-!" He flinched, his cool facade dropping like a pillow case full of bricks out a window. He was in trouble now. There was no way he was getting away from Kyoya if he couldn't come up with some kind of decent excuse and fast.

"... Ahem... well you see Kyoya, me and Haruhi were simply having a very important discussion about..." Think, think, think! This had to be good! Think, darn it! "... cabin fever."

The black haired boy stared at him. "... Cabin fever?"

"But of course!" Tamaki flashed his best handsome grin, slipping into his role of simple excited idiot as quickly as he could, gesturing dramatically with a finger pointed towards the ceiling.

"You see Kyoya, cabin fever is a commoner's illness. They say it strikes when a person is stuck in a confined area with nothing to do for an extended period of time. I just so happened to hear about it one day and found myself intrigued! As it is a commoner's illness, I felt it only appropriate to ask our darling commoner Haruhi for more information on the subject! It truly is fascinating! However I didn't want to risk frightening the guests with the idea that such horrid boredom could possibly exist, even if it only effects commoners, therefore I simply moved our discussion to a more private location. Tell me, Kyoya! Would you like to know more about cabin fever?"

Kyoya blinked. "No, thank you. I think at this time I would rather remain in ignorance." He replied dully, not at all convinced but thoroughly annoyed and secretly slightly impressed that his friend had managed to pull that out of thin air so quickly.

"I see! We'll simply have to discuss it some other time! Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off! The ladies are waiting!"

He spun on his heel and took off towards his destination, oblivious to the cold stare of irritation Kyoya was still giving his retreating back.

He sighed and adjusted his glasses. He would have to find out what was wrong with that ridiculous moron later.

Not that he was worried for Tamaki personally, of course- it was just that the host club's princely character completely losing his mind would be bad for business.

Slowly, discreetly, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the table in the corner of the room.

Honey-senpai sat there, happily scarfing down cake and chatting with some guests while Mori stood by, watching silently, both seemingly oblivious to what was going on.

He studied the small blonde boy for a moment.

It could just be his imagination, but...

... it couldn't be...

Tamaki breathed a quiet sigh of relief once he was a good several feet away, smiling and praising himself for getting out of THAT situation. For a moment there, he'd thought he was busted for sure.

"Pssssssst!"

He stopped in his tracks and frowned, confused. Huh. For a second there he thought ht'ed heard a strange sound...

"PSSSSSSSSSST!"

Now he KNEW he heard something that time. He looked around, wondering where on earth that noise was coming from...

"_Senpa_i! Over here!"

The prince jumped and whirled around to his right, eyes darting around wildly for a moment before they settled on Haruhi, peering out from behind a conveniently placed giant pillar a few feet away.

He blinked, before sweeping a glance around the room to make sure no one was watching. As casually as possible, he slowly began to make his way over to the pillar, whistling a tune and making sure to look at anything else besides the pillar. As soon as he was close enough he dodged behind it as fast as he could, bumping Haruhi and nearly knocking her out into the open in the process.

"Ouch!"

"What is it?" He said in a loud whisper, looking from side to side nervously.

"Isn't there something you're supposed to be doing?"

She gave him a pointed look before peering out from behind the pillar, looking at something across the room cautiously. Tamaki followed her lead and slid up behind her, following her gaze.

His eyes bulged out and his heart jumped into his throat. He'd been doing such a good job all day of ignoring him, too...

Honey-senpai. Smiling that adorable smile, laughing that adorable laugh as he continued to chow down on cake. There were crumbs and icing all around his mouth, big brown eyes sparkling with utter delight as he chatted with the guests. He looked so truly happy, sweet and innocent that Tamaki's heart almost exploded right then and there. His boy-... er, that boy. That boy. That wonderful, incredible boy...

"Senpai? Hello, senpai!"

It took a few moments for Haruhi's voice to register before he shook his head, breaking his eyes away from the angelic sight to look back at Haruhi, trying to concentrate despite the fact that the image still lingered in his brain.

"Look senpai, I don't wanna butt in but if you're gonna do this, you might wanna hurry up. I saw how Kyoya-senpai stopped you, and no offense, but cabin fever? REALLY? He's gonna get you later and I really have no clue what he's gonna say if he finds out."

Gulp. Was it true? Kyoya had seen through his clever ruse! Argh, now what was he supposed to do? What if Kyoya thought it would be bad for business and decided to lock him up in the medieval dungeon Tamaki just KNEW the Ohtori family secretly owned?!

"Now's your chance!" The brunette pointed across the room at the table, pulling the prince out of his thoughts. "See, those girls are leaving! Go talk to him!"

... T-talk to him? Now? As in right now? No, no, this was too sudden, he couldn't! He still didn't know what he was going to say! What should he say? He couldn't do this now, he just couldn't!

He couldn't...

... No. He had to. Haruhi was right. He'd known all along what he needed to do even before he'd decided to talk to her. Things would only get worse. Waiting wouldn't solve anything. Especially considering if he waited too long he would end up in the dungeon and then he'd never get another chance. Now or never... now or never...

Legs shaking, he made his way out from behind the pillar and awkwardly across the room, trying to look normal and utterly failing. His heart was racing, his mind going blank of all thoughts not pertaining to receiving grievous bodily harm from Kyoya or Mori-senpai or maybe even both as once.

The chatter in the clubroom began to die down as heads began to turn towards the prince, the guests staring at him in confusion. The chatter then began anew as they started to share theories amongst themselves as to what he was doing.

Haruhi watched him from behind the pillar, biting her lower lip. _Come on senpai, don't make a complete fool of yourself..._

Hikaru and Kaoru's heads turned in perfect unison, big question marks practically written across they're faces. They looked at each other and shrugged before turning back to the odd sight before them, confused and curious.

The increased chatter caught Kyoya's attention and he looked up from his little black book, only for his cool to waver ever so slightly as he caught sight of the host club president. _Now _what was that idiot doing?

Mori noticed him first. He looked up from watching Honey devour cake and watched their leader curiously, but said nothing.

Just a few more feet to go. Just keep walking, Tamaki. Just keep walking...

Finally, his adorable blonde senpai noticed him.

He blinked his big brown eyes once, twice, before breaking into a happy smile.

"Hey, Tama-chan!"

That adorable voice sent chills up his spine. Steady, now. Stay calm... almost there... just a few more steps...

Unfortunately for poor Tamaki, he didn't notice the banana peel laying in his path...

**DUN DUN DUN! Oh magical teleporting banana peel, you card, you! What horrors will you inflict on our poor, love-struck prince? Well, I assure you we'll find out soon! We should be finished in just one or two more chapters folks, so please stick around! Special thanks to the two people following now, and our first reviewer who also favorited! See you next time!**

**Next chapter: Operation Confess to Honey-senpai Part 2!**


	4. Operation Confess to Honey-senpai Part 2

**Operation Confess to Honey-senpai, Part Two!**

Never mind. The sooner Mori-senpai put threw him into the wall, the better. The impact would kill him instantly and then it would all be over with, like a bad dream. Or, better yet, the floor could sprout a giant mouth and eat him alive. Either was fine with him. His only regret, besides the obvious, would be not having just one last cup of commoner's coffee. Maybe they sold it in Heaven. That would be just wonderful.

The room was silent. Maybe he was already dead. Maybe Mori had killed him so fast he hadn't even noticed.

Oh, but of course, the world had to go and crush his hopes.

A low murmur began to spread throughout the club. The guests started muttering to each other. Some were worried about if he was okay- one or two couldn't help but giggle.

All of them started shrieking.

"Oh my gosh look that is so cute! I never thought of Tamaki and Honey _that_ way before!"

"It's weird, but cute at the same time! I mean, as long as Mori doesn't mind!"

"GASP ! ! ! You don't think the three of them...?!"

"_**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ! ! !"**_

Any time now, floor. Just whenever you're ready. Mori-senpai? Anyone?

… maybe his brain would implode from the volume of the screams.

The twins were on the floor, practically dying of laughter.

"Real smooth, boss!

"Great job, boss, go on, get him!"

Those treacherous twins, oblivious to how much their ignorant words stung.

Kyoya stared, not quite believing what he was seeing. Oh no... it was true, wasn't it?

Tamaki, you moron...

Haruhi, for her part, was huddled in the corner, hands over her eyes. She couldn't bear to watch this...

"... Tama-chan?"

The voice came from under him, sounding more worried than anything else. Well, at least he wasn't hurt. That was all that really mattered.

The prince said nothing. He really should have put aside some time to plan his last words. After all, he knew this would happen. Well, not specifically THIS...

"Mitsukuni! Are you hurt?"

Honey shook his head, not taking his eyes off Tamaki.

Mori gripped Honey under the arms and gently pulled him out from under the younger blonde, who's head flopped lifelessly to the ground with a _thud_ that sounded like it hurt.

"Tama-chan?" He repeated, now on his feet, a deep frown etched into his adorable face. "Are you okay?"

The realization suddenly hit Tamaki.

No one was going to kill him.

… Why, world... why are you so cruel...

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M SORRY!"

Time seemed to be flowing in slow motion. The prince had gone from face down in the floor to up on his feet and sprinting for the door faster than ever before. It was truly a new record.

He didn't know what he'd do, but he had to get away, out of the club room as fast as possible. Maybe move to America and live under an assumed name. He'd buy a little dog and call it Alfred. That was a nice, average, American name. And it'd have to be a mutt- maybe one of those fat wrinkly things... of course, no matter where he went, looks like his would not go unnoticed. He'd have to wear a false beard for the rest of his life. Some big bushy eyebrows wouldn't hurt, either. Or maybe he'd buy one of those big fancy hats and tell people he was an exceptionally Japanese-looking Mexican. Yes, he'd always wanted to try shaking those... shake-y things...

Ah, there was the door. Almost there. The nightmare would be over soon.

He should have known this would happen. No, he DID know this would happen.

… And yet, somehow, it felt even worse than he had ever imagined...

Even if the club didn't figure out what was going on and think he was a horrible sick freak, their last memory of him would forever be of the time he slipped on a banana peel and ended up straddling Honey-senpai in the floor.

Straddling.

Honey-senpai.

In the floor.

Oh, how they would laugh in the years to come, sitting together and drinking commoner's coffee without him.

Perhaps worst of all, nevermind everything else...

He'd knocked over Honey-senpai's cake.

He heard the plate smash on the ground. Surely the pastry was still lying there, ruined.

It probably even had _strawberries_.

_I'm sorry..._

_This is the last thing I wanted..._

_It's okay if you hate me..._

His fingers finally gripped the door handle.

"Tama-chan!"

The door flung open with a bang.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait-!"

Fingers latched onto Tamaki's sleeve and he abruptly skidded to a halt.

Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds. Finally, he reluctantly turned his head.

Terrified blue eyes met a pair of big, worried brown ones. They traveled downward to his sleeve, where the small, pale hand held firm to the fabric.

He wasn't getting away no matter how much he wanted to.

Panic rose.

What NOW?

Honey-senpai watched him for a few moments. He almost seemed to be studying him. Surely to discover his dark, horrible secret any moment...

"It's okay, Tama-chan." Suddenly, the tiny boy smiled. "It was an accident."

He blinked. Could it be? Was he safe after all? It couldn't possibly-...

"Was there something you needed?" Honey asked, beaming up at him.

"Uh... uh-buh..." Was the most intelligent thing the club leader could manage and he mentally slapped himself in the head.

"Ohhh..." He said slowly. "I bet I know!"

Thud. Thud. Thud. His heart threatened to explode out of his ribcage. That would surely terrify the guests.

No... please no...

"You wanted to have some cake!"

…

Tamaki suddenly felt even more aware that the entire club was staring at them.

"... yes. Of course. I just... wanted some cake..."

If someone had told Tamaki that morning that he would end up sitting opposite Honey-senpai, awkwardly picking at a slice of cake, while Mori-senpai loomed over him with his ever-unreadable expression and all the host club members and all the guests wouldn't stop staring, whispering, and giggling, he would have believed you, thanked you graciously, and gone back to bed.

As it was...

"I hope you feel better today, Tama-chan." Honey said happily, through a mouthful of cake. "You seemed kinda sick the other day."

"Er, yes..." He muttered. "Just... a little cold..."

"Maybe it was cabin fever." Mori deadpanned.

The prince almost choked.

"Ah... ah-ha...?"

Wh-where had THAT come from? Don't tell him...

Had Mori-senpai been WATCHING him?

"Cabin fever?"Honey tilted his head. "What's that, Takashi?"

Mori gave no reply. He merely glanced at Tamaki out of the corner of his eye.

Gulp!

When would this end...?

"Oh, senpai..." Haruhi sighed, trying to be discreet in observing from across the room.

She felt... bad. She didn't know what Tamaki must be feeling right now, having never been in a situation like this herself... but he looked scared out of his wits. Really, anybody would, what with Mori-senpai staring at them like that.

"So tell me, Haruhi..."

She froze. Kyoya's voice had come from almost directly behind her ear.

"How long has this been going on? It's why he dragged you into the closet, am I correct?"

She bit her bottom lip. Oh, great...

"What did he tell you? Not that your testimony is really a requirement at this point..."

It was at that moment that the twins chose to slide up from behind them.

"What are you talking about, Kyoya-senpai?" Kaoru said.

"Hold up, what's going on?" Hikaru followed. "That was funny and all but why is the boss eating cake with Honey-senpai, I didn't even know he liked sweets that much."

"Well," the bespectacled boy began, a small, evil smirk forming. "Why don't you ask Haruhi?"

"H-hey, wait a sec!" She backed up, waving her hands frantically, trying to decide what to do. "I don't know what's going on either..."

Okay, so maybe it was obvious at this point... to Kyoya-senpai, anyway... but still, she'd promised...

The twins, however, were not fooled.

"... Tell us..."

"Tell us..."

"Tell us tell us tell us tell us tell-..."

"-... us tell us tell us tell us!"

"**Tell us tell us tell us tell us!"**

Oh, GREAT...

"Well, I'm glad everything's A-okay now!"

"Yeah... me too..."

The blonde stared down nervously at his half-eaten slice of cake. He'd finished the first one only for Honey to immediately replace it with another.

"You need to be careful not to get sick again, Tama-chan!"He reached out a hand and gently patted the prince on the shoulder. It sent a shiver up his spine, which the smaller by didn't seem to notice.

"Ooh, I bet I know what else would help!"

He really hoped it wasn't more cake.

"Here!"

He jumped as two fluffy feet suddenly flew into his face.

"You should hold Usa-chan! He'll protect you! Hehe!"

Tamaki was about to try and politely decline, but past the bunny's ears, he caught sight of Honey's face. So happy... so cute... so... so...

"...I'd love to hold Usa-chan."

"Guys!" Haruhi whispered desperately. "GUYS! CALM DOWN!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Hikaru and Kaoru were far too busy seemingly having a stroke.

Why me... why me...?

"What else did you expect them to do?" Kyoya smirked.

"You made me tell them!" She glared at him, before turning back to the twins. "Come on you guys! Now look, you all stay out of this okay? He's having enough trouble already!"

Instantly, the pair stopped gaping like fishes and their eyeballs ceased bulging out of their heads.

… Why did she say that? Why. Did. She say that?

"Oh, but Haruhi," The grinned. "He looks like he needs some help!"

Haruhi's face fell. Kyoya just smiled.

Actually... this wasn't so bad.

Since Mori-senpai never said anything, if he tried hard enough, he could almost pretend he wasn't there. Honey-senpai just continued on eating cake adorably, chatting about nothing in particular. Eventually, he found himself chattering back almost intelligently. This was... nice. Even kinda fun... and after all, he was spending time with Honey-senpai...

But all good things must come to an end. Oh, how the world loved to remind him of that.

"Hey, boss!"

Before he could even blink, there were the twins, waves of raw mischief radiating off of their matching grins.

"Hey Hika-chan! Hey Kao-chan!"

"Hey Honey-senpai! Mmm, that cake looks good! So boss, there's something we need to tell you!"

"Yeeeeeees?" Tamaki asked slowly. All of a sudden, he felt this familiar sense of dread.

"Some guests asked us to play the pocky game!" They both declared. "But there's a problem!"

"Kaoru has terrible cold sores!"

"That's right, I can't share food or kiss anyone!"

Honey blinked, curiously. Even Mori raised an eyebrow. Tamaki squinted.

"You don't look like you have cold sores to me..."

"Oh, but of course he does! It's just terrible!"

"Uh huh." The prince said, unconvinced. Something in the pit of his stomach told him that this could not be going anywhere good.

"But we can't let the guests down!"

"After all, you say it yourself all the time, it's our job to make every woman happy!"

"So..."

"We thought maybe you and Honey-senpai could fill in for us!

THERE was that brain implosion he'd been looking for earlier.

Tamaki's eye started twitching. He couldn't breathe. His whole brain shut down.

"Aw, really?" Honey-senpai looked up at the twins uncertainly. "Well, we wouldn't want all the ladies to be sad..."

"There you go, Honey-senpai!"

"You've got the right idea!"

"We knew we could count on you!"

A single stick of pocky was shoved into his small hand.

"Chop chop! Can't keep the guests waiting!"

He stared at it for a moment, then nodded slowly. "... Okay." He smiled, but it fell abruptly. "Tama-chan? What's wrong?"

All the color had drained from his face. He found himself clinging to Usa-chan as if hoping somehow the bunny could save him.

"I don't think you're better yet, Tama-chan. Come on, let's do this quick and then we'll go and put you down for a nap. Doctor's orders!" The small boy stuck the pocky into his mouth and leaned forward, waiting expectantly.

Those...

Those... Those...

Those treacherous twins! How had they found out?! They knew! They had to! It was official. His life was over.

At least Alfred wouldn't judge him...

"Tama-chan," Honey muttered around the pocky. "Come on!"

Okay, okay... stay calm. Maybe he could save this. There was always hope, right? He could at least try to avoid humiliating himself further. The twins would surely make his life even more miserable, but at least Honey-senpai didn't hate him, right?

He had to at least try.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned towards the older boy and the stick of pocky. Steady now...

Surely he was blushing. His heart sped up. Surely somehow those two hooligans knew THAT, too. He did his best not to look at them and their poorly hidden sadistic grins. If he made it through this, he swore he would get revenge.

Heads turned. The guests held their breath. Haruhi and Kyoya watched from the corner of the room.

_I'm sorry, senpai... _She thought to herself miserably.

Stay calm. Stay cool. It wasn't a big deal. Just pleasing the ladies, that's all. Doing his job. Nothing funny going on. The fact that he was about to play a kissing game with Honey-senpai was no... big... deal...

If his mind had been able to form even one more thought, it would have been: _Squeak!_

It would all be over soon. He had just started to open his mouth to take hold of the pocky when...

"Huh-?"

"AW!"

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

...

"... Takashi, what'd you do that for-...?"

Mori held up the pocky he'd snatched and, without a word, chomped the while thing down in three bites and chewed.

…

Swallow.

"... I was concerned that perhaps Tamaki had not brushed his teeth."

Tamaki and Honey both stared incredulously.

"... I'm sure it would have been okay, Takashi..." He trailed off, unsurely.

Mori gave no reply.

"Alright you two, that's enough!" Haruhi came up from behind the twins, dragging them away by their collars.

"But-! But-!"

"Ah, don't mind us!" She called to the three remaining host club members before making good her escape.

…

"Ah... well." Tamaki slowly stood, clearing his throat. "This was fun, Honey-senpai. We should do it again some time! But I should really be getting back to work..." He tried not to look at him as he awkwardly handed Usa-chan back.

There he was. Running away like a coward. Again.

"I had a good time too!" Honey beamed up at him, taking the bunny and nuzzling it against his face. "So did Usa-chan!"

"I'm glad..." He muttered. "Now if you'll excuse me..." He turned to go...

"Hey, wait a sec!"

The prince turned and tried to give him a casual smile. "What?"

"Me and Usa-chan thought we would check out this new cake shop that just opened up! It looks REALLY cute! We thought we'd go tomorrow after school. Why don't you come with us?"

Cake? With Honey-senpai? Tomorrow? Wait...

"... You know... on a date!"

**Phew! Sorry about the wait, folks! I hope you're still with me! It took me a bit, but I swear that I will never abandon a fic, or my yaoi sandwiches aren't yummy! Hmmm, I wonder if Mori was really worried about Tamaki's oral hygeine, or if his true problem lies elsewhere...?**

**I really hope you'll stick around for the final chapter of The Prince's Crush- which I promise will be up soon!**

**All comments are appreciated and please- tell me what you'd like to see next! Especially if it's Ouran, I'm still on an Ouran kick, and need something to do after this fic. So again, please- request away!**

**Next chapter: Tamaki and Honey-senpai's First Date!**


	5. Tamaki and Honey-senpai's First Date!

**Tamaki and Honey-senpai's First Date!**

Tamaki tore his eyes away from the window long enough to check his watch.

So far so good- the sleek, black limo had almost arrived at the intended destination, and he was still several minutes early.

He turned his attention back to the tinted window. To his surprise, for the past while they'd been driving through the commoner part of town. He'd relayed Honey-senpai's directions to the driver exactly, so he knew they were in the right place- that being, a clearly lower-middle class area, and not one he recognized, either. Was this cake shop a commoner establishment? Well, he'd never tasted commoners' cake...

Finally the car began to slow to a stop. Gulp. Looks like this was it. He craned his neck to try and get a better view. They turned and came to a halt along the sidewalk of a road that lead up a long hill. Various small little shops lined both sides of the street. A decent number of people were milling about the area, many of them window-shopping.

Hesitantly, the prince opened the door and slowly stepped out of the car. Partly because he was more nervous than he could ever remember being in his life and was fighting off the urge to leap back into the limo and tell his driver to head straight to the airport so he could leave for America, and partly because he was genuinely afraid that if he wasn't careful, he'd move wrong somehow and his shaky legs would give out on him, sending him plummeting face-first into the concrete.

And of course, at the same time, he was excited... and happy. Part of him couldn't believe it was really happening, and it was like being in some wonderful dream. The other part of him had no doubts about the fact that it was happening but was rather skeptical of the idea that it would end well. It felt like he had two different factions of butterflies in his stomach, one side happy and the other just dreading whatever was to come, and they had gone to war. Neither side was winning, but it was still making him nauseous. And as everyone knows, keeling over and retching in the street is not something that is generally recommended you do on a first date. Explaining to your date that you were doing it out of happiness seldom helps. If you want to be a smartass, you could imply that it was because their outfit was just that hideous. Although that also seldom helps.

It wasn't as if Honey-senpai's outfit could ever be hideous, anyway. Tamaki was positive he'd look just as cute as he always did even if he were wearing nothing but an old paper bag.

… wearing nothing but a...

His face lit up like a Christmas light. He smacked himself in the head. Idiot! _Pervert!_ This was no time for _THAT_!

The door slammed shut behind him. The car pulled away, taking any chance of backing out now with it, until it was just a black dot in the distance. Tamaki watched it go with a barely audible whimper.

"Oh, Tama-chan!"

Oh dear. Oh no. He wasn't ready for this...

The sound of Honey's adorable voice had come from behind him. He turned. The small boy was skipping down the street towards him, all smiles, carrying Usa-chan behind him in both hands.

A shaky smile etched it's way onto his handsome features. He wasn't faking it- he WAS happy. He was just also incredibly nervous and worried at the same time, and if he thought too far into the current situation, that smile would surely morph into a frown. Thus the end result was something less like a smile or a frown and more like a squiggle.

"Um, I, um, hope I didn't keep you waiting." He managed. He prayed that his face wasn't still red. In response, his face flushed deeper. Curse you, face! Curse you! Even if you are gorgeous!

"Hehe, don't be silly, you're early!" The older boy beamed up at him. Whether he didn't notice the fact that the other boy was blushing madly or if he was simply pretending not to notice wasn't a thought that entered Tamaki's mind. Faced with that smile, maintaining any coherent thought at all was a stretch.

"And I see you brought Kuma-chan!"

The blonde glanced down at the teddy bear in his arms. Ah yes, that...

"O-oh yeah." Tamaki sputtered. "Um, just like you asked... um, why was that again...?"

He'd been confused at the request. Shortly after issuing his invitation, Honey had told him the time and place, and also asked that he bring along his teddy bear. He'd agreed, confusedly, and had hoped for some clarification, but his senpai hadn't bothered to elaborate.

Honey just continued to smile. "Because," he began, and pulled Usa-chan out from behind his back. "I thought it would be more fun if we made it a double date!"

Tamaki stared. Honey had adorned the bunny's neck with a bow tie.

He found himself being pulled down by the arm. Now face-to-face, Honey leaned in conspiratorially. "Usa-chan has a BIG crush on Kuma-chan."

He blinked. Once. Twice. Those big, chocolate eyes were but a few inches from his face. The prince hadn't thought it possible, but that smile was a million times cuter up close...

"Er... r-right..."

Apparently satisfied, the smaller boy released his arm and pulled away. "Well, I guess we should get going, dontcha think?"

"Uh, yeah." He muttered. He took a few glances around the area. In truth, he just needed to look at something other than Honey-senpai for a few moments. "Er, is the cake shop around here somewhere?"

"Oh, it's a little ways away." Tamaki wasn't looking at him, but if he had been, he might have noticed that his senpai's smile was especially... gentle. Tender, almost... "I thought maybe we could walk around and take a look at some of these little stores and things."

The younger boy genuinely perked up, despite all his nervousness. Spending the day browsing commoner shops? Just him and Honey-senpai? Such a wonderful scenario hadn't occurred even in his fantasies...

"O-of course!" He said, and finally managed to look back at the other. His smile began to look less like a squiggly line and more like a smile. "I must say, you have excellent taste, Honey-senpai! Why, I didn't even know this little area existed..."

Smile. "I thought you'd like it." Honey said quietly. He slowly extended a hand towards the prince.

"Shall we go? Hehe."

Tamaki stared at it. His heart sped up even faster. But... slowly, surely... he reached out and took hold of the other boy's hand. His smile turned into an outright grin as he did so.

It looked like the happy butterflies had won this battle. The rest of the day would tell if they won the war...

"There they go! Hurry up, get moving or we'll lose them!" Hikaru urged in a loud whisper, peering out from behind the corner of the building.

"Hang on, be careful, if we follow too close behind, they'll see us." Kaoru said, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder to hold him still. "Trust me, it's okay, I've done this before."

"Yeah, I guess you're ri-... wait, what?"

"Er, nothing! Nothing at all! Hey look, there they go into that little antique store!"

"I don't really see any need to rush, it appears they intend to peruse this whole area. What with so many establishments in one place, I doubt they'll get very far very fast."

"Still, we should try to keep an eye on them..."

"Why am I here?"

Kyoya, Hikaru, and Kaoru all turned to Haruhi at once.

"What, you're telling us you wanna miss THIS?" Hikaru said. "The boss? And Honey-senpai? On a DATE? I dunno about you but I didn't see this coming. I wanna watch what happens."

She eyed him exasperatedly. "Does this not seem even a little wrong to you guys? Do you really not respect their privacy at all?"

"I admit I don't really think it's totally necessary that we be here..." Kaoru, who had really only come along because Hikaru wanted to, said with a sheepish smile.

"Are you crazy? This could turn out to be really entertaining. We might even witness some valuable blackmail material."

Haruhi gave him a look and sighed. "What about you, Kyoya-senpai? Please tell me you're going to be a bit reasonable about this."

The boy in question gently adjusted his glasses. "I must admit to being a tad curious myself."

"Oh brother..." Her shoulders slumped. Why did she even try?

Kyoya averted his eyes. "curious" may not have, in fact, been the best word to describe exactly why he had accompanied the rest of the club members on this little adventure. Kyoya Ohtori had better things to do than act on frivolous whims. The outcome of Honey-senpai and Tamaki's day may well effect the future of operations of the club, and it would do him well to be prepared. He certainly wasn't worried about if Tamaki was going to be okay. Worried for his best friend? Preposterous. Although it was certainly an intriguing notion, in it's own way.

"Can I at least go home?"

"Nope!" Two voices answered in unison.

"Aghhhhhhh..."

"Say," the bespectacled boy piped up. "Where's Mori-senpai?"

All heads turned this way and that, casting about the area.

"Huh... that's funny..." Hikaru said.

"He was with us a minute ago..." Kaoru trailed off.

"Look! They're on the move again! Let's go!"

"Ooh, you're right this time, better get a move on before they get too far."

"Sigh..."

"This is a funny little carving, isn't it? I've never seen a carving of a bear with three salmon before."

Honey nodded, glancing at the old wood carving that had caught Tamaki's attention inside the shop. "It's not as cute as Kuma-chan, though."

"Right..." He said quietly, gently depositing his purchase back into the small paper bag.

Suddenly, the smaller boy shifted closer and slowed down a bit. He looked up at Tamaki expectantly and made a "come closer" gesture with his free hand.

The prince resisted the urge to gulp loudly. He tried to maintain a nonchalant expression as he leaned down towards his senpai.

"He's not mad at me, is he?"

"... Um...?"

"Kuma-chan." For the first time that day, Honey frowned. "I'm really sorry about throwing him before..."

The memory came rushing back to him. Oh yes, those had been a trying few days... That was also the time Honey-senpai had bitten him...

"Oh, no, not at all." He said, and tried to give him a reassuring smile.

The frown remained. Tamaki could barely stand it. It made him just want to pick up his senpai and cuddle him to bits. Not that he'd ever dare do that. But the sad face had to go...

"I-in fact, he couldn't be happier to see you. Especially since you hooked him up with Usa-chan." He winked.

Honey blinked, then giggled. He broke out into a happy grin, and the prince couldn't help but do the same.

"Quick! Everybody behind the shrubs!"

"No wait, they're stopping!"

"Okay... no, they're moving! Behind the shrubs!

"Kaoru, you're going to trip me!"

"Hey, quit shoving you guys!"

"OUCH! Kaoru, you're going to pay for that...!"

"BEHIND the shrubs, not IN the shrubs, Kyoya-senpai."

"You tripped me, you imbecile!"

"SHHH! You guys, they're getting closer, be quiet!"

"Get your elbow out of my ribs and I will!"

Tamaki stopped short. "... Did you hear something?"

"I didn't hear anything. Did you hear anything, Usa-chan?"

"..."

"Usa-chan didn't hear anything."

"Huh... must have just been my imagination."

A few load _dings _attracted the pair's attention. Not too far away was a little ice cream cart, the man behind it ringing the bell.

"Look Tama-chan! Think you have a little extra room for some ice cream?"

"Are they seriously getting ice cream? I thought they were going for cake."

"Well, you know Honey-senpai..."

"Sure, why not?" the blonde replied, just a bit shyly. It seemed he found himself feeling more at ease with each passing minute. It hadn't been long, but still, nothing catastrophic had happened yet. It probably helped that he didn't have a hoard of giggling guest watching his every move. He wasn't dead. He wasn't even in the dungeon.

He was _holding Honey-senpai's hand_.

He felt his heart do a triple back flip.

"Yup, they're going for it."

"Would you guys be quiet? They almost heard us a minute ago."

A few feet away, Honey slowly turned his eyes towards the shrubbery as they approached the ice cream cart, the smile never leaving his face. Tamaki didn't seem to notice.

The rest of the club members froze and ducked down further behind the foliage.

"..." The older boy said nothing, just continued to stare, even as they ordered their ice cream.

Finally, a few licks into his vanilla cone, the younger boy took notice.

"What are you looking at, Honey-senpai?" He followed the blonde's gaze. He didn't see anything particular interesting about the little line of shrubs.  
"Oh," he said slowly. "I just thought I saw a bluebird. A whole family of bluebirds. I didn't expect to see any around here. In fact, I bet they don't belong here at all. They should really fly away home."

Tamaki stared, utterly confused. "Um... okay?"

He finally tore his big brown eyes away from the bushes and smiled up at the prince. He held his own ice cream cone aloft."Here, have a taste of mine, Tama-chan. It's really good!"

Any curious thoughts he was having about Honey's grudge against bluebirds vanished instantly. His heart didn't threaten to explode out of his chest. It threatened to ride out through his throat on a motorcycle, popping wheelies and bellowing "Yee-HAW!".

"Oh my gosh, he's spotted us!"

"Retreat, RETREAT!"

"Not now you idiots, Tamaki still doesn't know we're here."

"I told you this was gonna happen! I'm going home!"

"Wait Haruhi, he might see you!"

"He looks pretty distracted to me. I'll risk it!"

And then, there were three. Haruhi took off, walking quickly in the opposite direction with one hand held up to hide her face, ignoring her friends' silent pleas for her to wait. Once she was further away she began to jog, before disappearing down the street altogether.

_Good luck, senpai_...

"There they go again..."

"Hikaru, maybe we should back off..."

"Urgh," He groaned. "This stinks, I wanted to see how this all played out. What do you think, Honey-senpai won't kill us with the boss watching, will he?"

The group slowly stood up, as the two blondes had now wandered a safe distance away, hand in hand, stuffed animals clasped against their chests, ice cream cones in their other hands, chatting about something that they could no longer make out. Even from this distance though, it was plain to see that Tamaki was blushing all the way to his ears. Although both looked to be in good spirits...

"He's not going to kill anyone at all. I doubt Honey-senpai himself minds all that much, I would assume he's trying to get rid of us for Tamaki's sake."

"So as long as the boss doesn't see, we're safe, right?" Hikaru asked.

Kaoru let out a quiet sigh.

"Well, Tamaki may be oblivious as ever but Honey-senpai is sharper than you might think. If we're going to keep this up, we're going to have to be a bit more clever with our tactics. First order of business, we need to hang back more."

"Second order of business?" The twins questioned in unison.

"... Second order of business, I'm actually rather in the mood for some ice cream."

"-... and then, Takashi grabbed him by the arm and flipped him right into the wall!"

Tamaki was torn between laughing and cringing. His fears hadn't been quite so unreasonable after all, it seemed. Then again, the person in this odd little anecdote Honey was relating to him had been a mugger, rather than a bumbling suitor. But you could never be too careful...

It had truly been a wonderful afternoon. Despite all his worries, all had gone smoothly. After their stop at the ice cream cart, they'd looked through all different kinds of commoner shops, and both had picked up their fair share of little trinkets and knickknacks. Tamaki was particularly fond of what was apparently called a "slinky". They'd chattered back and forth, and even shared a few laughs. The prince had eventually given up on trying to keep his blushing in check, and if Honey-senpai looked his way while his cheeks were alight, he just smiled sheepishly. He now knew that his senpai noticed, too- he'd told him it was cute. This naturally only caused him to blush more.

They were now seated opposite each other at a small table in the middle of the cake shop, talking while they waited for their cake to arrive. Their shopping bag sat at their feet under the table. Usa-chan and Kuma-chan were sitting at another one not too far away. Apparently, there were really hitting it off and could use some privacy.

It wasn't a fancy place by any means, but it had it's own charm. The small, white tables only had enough space for two people at a time and were covered with frilly little table cloths. Some stuffed animals sat in the window alongside the cake displays, and the menu covers had been pink. It was a cute place, just like Honey had said.

A few other couples were sitting eating cake and chatting nearby, but the place wasn't crowded.

Neither of the two had paid any particular mind to the three individuals sandwiched at one table together in the corner, their faces conveniently hidden behind a newspaper.

The two blondes lapsed into silence as Honey finished his tale of muggers and wall-related injuries. The host club's princely character, feeling at a loss for what to say, simply took to glancing awkwardly around the place and hoping it looked casual. His date just sat there contentedly while they waited.

"Hey."

Tamaki's eyes snapped back to his senpai, who was was looking at him with a smile. Once he saw that he had his attention, he leaned across the table.

"I like you a lot, Tama-chan."

He blinked. It took a few seconds for Honey's words to register. When they did, he was sincerely surprised that he didn't melt into a puddle of exceptionally handsome goo.

"... teehee." He let out a giggle.

… a _giggle. _He just giggled. A giggle so bubbly and girly it could've given the guests at the club a run for their money. Why did he _giggle? _He probably sounded ridiculous!

"Um!" He hurried, hoping to draw attention away from the sound he'd just made. "I like you too, Honey-senpai. A lot." The words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could really realize what he was saying. For the umpteenth time that day, he felt his face redden.

The smaller boy just smiled wider. Such a genuinely happy smile. He could practically feel the pure, sincere joy wafting towards him. Tamaki came to the realization that he'd been a fool before; he would die of cuteness overload why before Mori-senpai ever got anywhere near him.

"Do you remember-..." Honey began. Unfortunately, he was abruptly cut off. Both turned their attention to the violin player who had suddenly appeared in front of their table, playing a gentle tune as though it were completely normal.

Meanwhile in the corner, Kyoya glared at the two seated next to him. "Is THIS your idea of _subtle_?" He hissed.

"Violin music is totally romantic." Kaoru said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, besides this place needs SOMETHING to help set the mood, a little commoner's cake shop? They'll never get anywhere."

"I didn't think a place as little as this could afford it's own violin player." Tamaki said, staring. "I guess you learn something new every day."

Kyoya smacked himself in the face.

It was then that their cake chose to arrive. The waitress set the two plates down in front of them and told them to enjoy. She blinked in confusion at the mysterious violin player, but in the end decided not to ask.

"Cake! Yay!" Honey cheered happily, seemingly forgetting all about whatever he'd been saying earlier. "Let's dig in, Tama-chan!"

"Er, yes." He replied, looking down at the pastry in front of him. It did look good, and he eagerly picked up his fork to take a taste.

The other blonde shoveled a big bite into his mouth, letting out a loud "Mmm!", before glancing as casually as he could over his shoulder. Well, would you take a gander at those three people hiding their faces behind a newspaper. Surely, three people trying to read a newspaper all at once couldn't work very well. You'd think they'd just buy their own separate copies. It's not like they couldn't afford it. Especially since they had no trouble getting a violin player on such short notice.

"Guys? I think he sees us."

"Imagine that, I wonder what could have possibly made him suspicious."

"Well it's not like we can leave now, we'd have to walk right past them to get to the door."

"You idiots. Now we're stuck."

"It's not our fault!"

"Yes. It is."

"Hey, I suggested we disguise ourselves as waiters, then we could move around as much as we want, but you said no!"

"Speaking of waiters..." Kaoru said slowly. "... is that... is that Mori-senpai in the behind the counter?! In the back, in the bakery area?"

"Hey, whaddaya know. Nice fake mustache."

"He's even got a uniform, how'd he swing that? None of the staff seems to notice him either."

"This is just a theory of mine, but perhaps he took the time to think carefully ahead and plan things out in advance rather than bumbling along haphazardly."

"**Quiet, you.**"

"Ahhh... that sure was some yummy cake." Honey muttered blissfully, patting his full stomach. As adorable as he looked while doing it, Tamaki would never understand how someone that small could devour so much cake at once. Where did it all _go_?

"Welp, I think Usa-chan and Kuma-chan are ready to go." He said, hopping up out of his seat. "This was a lot of fun, Tama-chan. Hey, do you think maybe we could stop by that little park we passed by on the way here before we go home?"

"Sure." He said, standing and walking over to collect his teddy bear. The other did the same with his beloved bunny and both gathered up their share of the shopping bags, before Honey took hold of his companions hand and happily skipped out of the shop, leading him behind.

"... Okay, let's get going, or they'll get away." Hikaru said.

"Just gimme a sec, I need to to tip the violin player." said Kaoru.

"Oh, were you the ones who hired that delightful violin player?"

The question had come from a woman at the next table over, who stood up and approached the trio.

"Oh, he's just fabulous! Does he take tips? Oh, how much does he charge? I'd love to have a violin player at me and my husbands anniversary!"

"Er," Kaoru tried to smile. "Well actually ma'am, he was really just-..."

Another woman seemingly materialized behind the first one. "You hired the violinist? He doesn't work here? Are you boys affiliated with the shop?"

"Um, no miss, we were only-..."

A waitress suddenly appeared. "I'm sorry sirs, this violin player of yours is just a really big hit with the customers, he really adds to the atmosphere. I don't suppose there's anyway we could talk to you about-..."

"We're very sorry ladies, but we really must be going, we're in a hurry." Kyoya said, attempting to elbow past the growing mob.

"Oh, please wait!" He now found himself with the waitress clinging to his arm. "It'll only take a moment, just let me get my manager..."

"Guys! They're gonna get away!" Hikaru shouted.

"What do you want me to do? We're literally backed into a corner!"

"Whoa, there goes Mori-senpai out the back door!"

"Look at him go! C'mon, we gotta catch 'em!"

"Wait, how much did you say your manager might be willing to pay, now?"

"**KYOYA-SENPAI!**"

The sun was beginning to set, filling the sky with all manner of oranges, reds and pinks. The smell of freshly cut grass hung in the air around the park. A few tiny fishes swam to and fro in a small, clear pond in the middle of the park. There were now even less people hanging around that there had been that afternoon, and all was peaceful.

Tamaki and Honey sat on a wooden bench in front of the pond, hands still intertwined. Usa-chan and Kuma-chan sat together on the other side. They were silent as they watched the fish goes about their fishy business, but it was a comfortable silence.

The prince didn't know anymore what he'd been so afraid of- the day had been nothing short of perfect. He could barely believe it. The happy butterflies had soundly beaten the nervous butterflies, even if there were moments when it looked like it could go either way, and were now celebrating their victory. It still made his stomach feel funny, but he had the feeling that if he were to vomit now, it would consist of kittens and rainbows- although that was actually a bit terrifying, if you think about it. Tamaki didn't care to. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy this moment with his senpai. What a shame it was that it couldn't last forever...

"Tama-chan."

The boy in question turned to look at him. "What?"

"Do you remember when we met?"

"What?" He blinked. "Well, of course I remember. How could I ever forget?"

"I'll never forget it, either."

Honey smiled, and continued to gaze into the pond.

"You know Tama-chan, I guess I never really told you how grateful I am that I met you."  
The prince was beyond confused, now. "What do you mean?"

"Before I met, you, I guess I didn't really know who I was. I tried my best to be what everyone expected me to be, but deep down, it never felt right."

He faced the prince, eyes sparkling in the light. If you looked close enough, you would notice the faintest of all blushes adorning his cheeks.

"And then you came along. And you made me realize, it was okay for me to be whatever I wanted to be. That it was okay to like sweets and cute things, no matter what anyone else chose to think of me for it. I couldn't be happier than I am right now, and it's all thanks to you. I can't stand to think how things would be if it wasn't for you. I'd probably have never figured it out, and I'd just be miserable."

He gave the younger boy's hand a light squeeze. "So thank you, Tamaki. I hope some day I can make you as happy as you made me."

Tamaki was floored, to say the least. He never knew... did he really...? It... what...?

"... I don't know what to say, Honey-senpai-..."

"You can call me Mitsukuni, if you want."

"... Mitsukuni..." The name tasted sweet in his mouth. "I'm so happy you feel that way. But, you've made me so happy already."

"Really? I have?"

"Of course." He said. For the first time today, he found that he didn't feel like a nervous, lovestruck school girl. He felt... comfortable. He felt brave. "This day with you has been the best I've had in a long time. In fact, when you asked me to come, I don't think I'd ever been so happy in my life... and really, really nervous. But mostly happy. Seeing your smiling face in the club each day is all I need."

Blink. "Is that really how you feel, Tama-chan?"

"Yes... from the bottom of my heart."

"... I'm really happy..."

Honey scooted closer. Gently, he laid a hand on Tamaki's shoulder and pulled him closer.

His heart sped up... but still, somehow, he felt okay... as slowly, surely, their faces drew nearer and nearer, it all felt right.

Two pairs of eyes slid shut. Their lips met.

Honey's lips were soft and tasted of cake and all manner of other sweet things. The world around him faded away as their lips moved against each other. As far as he was concerned, there was only him, and his senpai... Mitsukuni Haninozuka.

A tongue brushed gently across his lower lip. He'd never taken the other boy to be so... bold. He shyly opened his mouth to allow him entrance.

You learn something new every day...

"Where are they? Do you see them? That's the park down there, isn't it?"

"I see them! Over there, by the pond!"

"Quick, get down before they see us!"

"Get down where?"

"Anywhere!"

"In the bushes!"

"Ow! Hey, these things have thorns!"

"What's going on, I can't see anything!"

"Hang on, stop moving! It's look like they're... whoa."

"What? What?"

"Way to go, boss..."

"... Well, despite any doubts we may have had, it appears this day has gone well for them."

"No kidding..."

Oxygen. The darned stuff. So incredibly overrated. Unfortunately for the pair on the bench, they found that they did, indeed, need it. Hesitantly, the two finally broke apart. They gazed into each others' eyes, smiling blissfully.

Once he had his breath back, suddenly, Honey shifted to look behind him.

"Okay, Takashi. You can stop pretending to be that tree, now."

Tamaki started at his senpai, confused. He followed his gaze to the tree in question. Now that he was looking at it... it looked a little bit... off. Before his very eyes, it started to move.

The front of the "tree" slowly unzipped. The bulky costume fell down around Mori's feet.

"... how did you know?"

"I didn't see you at first." Honey admitted. "I was actually watching for everyone else. Your disguise as that old lady feeding the pigeons was really good, though."

While this was going on, the prince was trying to get his brain to work. Mori-senpai was here. He was a tree. He'd been following them... he'd been following them. He'd been following them! The whole day! He'd seen _everything_!

… Wait a minute. Did Honey-senpai just say...?

"And the rest of you, get out of that bush!"

Tamaki's head whipped around. Out of a bush some distance behind him, Hikaru, Kaoru and Kyoya stood up with bemused expressions on their faces.

"K-Kyoya! You shady twins! How long have you been-..?!"

"Shame on you!" Honey shouted, pointing an accusing finger in their direction. "Spying on an innocent couple in the park!"  
He turned back to Mori. "And as for you, Takashi!"

Mori shifted uncomfortably. He refused to meet his cousin's eyes. He looked almost ashamed.

"Why did you follow us?" The small blonde demanded.

"... I..." He began, then appeared to choke. He wanted to make an excuse, but he knew Honey would never believe him.

"... Mitsukuni... are you... happy?"

"Of course I am, silly!"

"... I see." He muttered. "I'm sorry."

"You should be! All of you should be ashamed of yourselves!"  
Mori and the twins hung their heads. Kyoya just stared in the other direction at nothing in particular.

"... Well, I guess if you all promise to never ever do it again, they can forgive you."

"...Eh?" Sounded from five different mouths, Tamaki's included.

"Just remember next time. Usa-chan and Kuma-chan need their privacy!"

**There we have it! Sorry for the wait everyone, I have been hit with three consecutive illnesses in a row, two ear infections, a sinus infection and a busted eardrum. Thanks for staying with me! Happy cookies to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed! Also, Mega-Happy cookies to the first person who can tell me what the "bear with three salmon" carving is a reference to. Who knows, there might just be a secret bonus prize for doing that. Hint hint.**

**I'm considering doing an epilogue to this or some other kind of follow-up. If enough of you guys want, there MAY be a sequel in the works. Make sure to tell me in a review and if you have a request for any other kind of fic, please don't hesitate to send it along. Live long and prosper, see you next time!**

**YummyYaoiSandwiches**

**P.S: As you guys may have noticed, there aren't any page breaks in the previous chapters, the site deleted them. I tried to fix that this time, we'll see if it works. If it does, expect me to re-upload the previous chapters with fixed page breaks.**


	6. Something of an Epilogue

**Something of an Epilogue**

"Boss~"

"Hey boss~"

"Boooooooss~"

"Wake up, sleepy head~"

Tamaki's eyelids fluttered. With a groan, he rolled over on his side, trying to ignore the voices echoing through his brain and trying to rouse him from his beauty sleep.

Those shady twins... couldn't they see he was trying to sleep? Surely whatever it was could wait until-...

… wait a minute...

He bolted upright, eyes now wide open, only to nearly fall backwards again when he caught sight of the two people looming a scant few inches from his face. This caused them to grin from ear to ear and let out a fiendish giggle.

Baffled, he was about to demand to know what on earth the identical boys were doing in his house... When he realized, they weren't in his house. He had been sleeping on the grass, in the middle of the forest...

The sun was shining, the birds were singing...

Oh no, what was going on...?!

"Rise and shine!" Kaoru cooed.

"We've got something big planned for today!" Hikaru chimed.

"Wha-what are are you two up to?!" He shouted. "Where are we? What have you done? You answer this instant! I'm in no mood for your silly games!"

"Tsk tsk."

"We're not playing silly games today, boss."

"This matter happens to be of the utmost importance."

"Ya see..."

The redheads proceeded to take a step back and a deep breath, preparing for the big announcement they were about to make.

"... **WE'RE GOING TO CANDY MOUNTAIN!**"

Tamaki could only stare at them blankly for a few moments. Then, his brow furrowed.

"C-Candy Mountain?!" He stammered. "There's no such thing!" Beat. "... Is there?"

"But of course there is!"

"And we're all going!"

Something was wrong. This was some kind of elaborate trick. These were the Hiitachin twins he was talking to. This pair couldn't be trusted!

"... No way." He said, finally standing up from the ground and dusting himself off. "I'm not going anywhere with the two of you, you're just trying to fool me into falling into some trap! Well, it's not going to work!" He spun around, fully prepared to walk away and look for some indication as to where on earth he was.

"Tama-chan?"

He was not, however, prepared for the sight that stood before him.

"Mitsukuni?" He gaped. "What are you doing here? Where are we? What-..."

The blonde stopped short abruptly as he got a closer look at his senpai. The small boy, Usa-chan clutched to his chest, was on the verge of tears.

"Tama-chan... you... you don't wanna go to Candy Mountain with me?"

Hurk-!

"Ah-... ah, what? Wait, so, it's not a trick?"

Fat, salty tears began to pour out of the smaller boy's eyes.

"I can't believe it, Tamaki... I can't believe it!"

The next thing he knew, the other boy had turned away and was running in the opposite direction, sobbing hysterically.

"Wait! Mitsukuni-!"

Dark clouds suddenly began to fill the sky. Out of nowhere, with no warning whatsoever, a huge, swirling portal of darkness opened up just ahead of the fleeing older boy.

"Oh no!"

"You broke Honey-senpai's heart!"

"Now he will be sucked into the vortex!"

"What? No!"

There was no time to think. He didn't know what was going on, but he had to stop Mitsukuni before...

"Stop! I'll go to Candy Mountain with you! I want to stay on Candy Mountain with you forever! Don't leave me! Come back! Come baaaaaaaaaack-!"

"It's too late now."

"Nice going, boss."

"_Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!"_

"-... ooooooooooooooooooo!"

Tamaki sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for breath as his senses started to come back to him.

… A dream. It was only a dream. Thank goodness, it was only a dream...

Once his rapid heartbeat began to slow down, he slumped over with a heavy sigh.

Nice try, dreams. Nice try. But he knew now how things really were. He had faced his fears, and they would rule his life no longer!

… But that was still a scary dream, though.

A few stray rays of sun shone through his bedroom curtains. His eyes were drawn to them as he wiggled out of the mess of sheets he found himself tangled in.

He'd put that dream completely out of his mind, he decided. Now was not the time. After all, he needed to get ready for school, and even earlier than usual, at that. It had been a long time since he'd walked to school rather than taking a car, but today was different.

Today, he would be joined on his journey by a certain small, adorable senpai of his. His senpai... his dear friend...

… his _boyfriend_...

A warm, fuzzy feeling, not unlike the feeling of happy butterflies chatting and cleaning up after the mess that had been caused during their victory celebration, flooded his heart, and all felt right with the world.

Today, for the first time in a long time, everything would be just fine.

After all, he was sure, if the situation should ever arise, he would find a way to convince Kyoya to simply help him build a Candy Mountain.

Kyoya's pen went _scritch-scratch_ against the pages of his little black book, jotting down a few quick and highly secretive notes before the club opened it's doors.

He'd arrived early in the hopes of being able to enjoy some peace and quiet after the chaos that had occurred yesterday and before the chaos that would surely follow today, as was the norm for the Host Club. Best to be mentally prepared for whatever insane scenario was to play out.

When he had entered the club room, however, he'd found that he was not alone.

Mori sat at a table near the window, gazing out at the blue, cloudless sky. It wasn't his usual stare, however. He looked downright pensive. Stranger yet, a certain small boy was mysteriously absent from his side...

Not that it was any of Kyoya's business. His senpai was quiet, regardless, so it didn't matter whether he was there or not and it was nothing for the Ohtori boy to concern himself with.

Still, he had his own theory about why the other had been brooding all alone in the club room and where the small blonde senior might be...

"So then we were all running down the street trying to find wherever the park was-..."

"It took us at least twenty minutes to finally escape from that mob, some lady pinched me on the butt-..."

"And then we finally managed to escape out the backdoor, but Mori-senpai had left his bakery uniform laying on the ground outside. Mine and Kyoya-senpai's feet got tangled up in it and we tripped, then he said he was totally going to kill me for tripping him twice even though it wasn't my fault-..."

"But anyways, we get to the park and jump in the bush, and we see Tamaki-senpai and Honey-senpai and they are totally making out-..."  
"Seriously, guys? I already told you, I don't wanna hear it! If I'd wanted to know I would've stayed and if they want me to know they can tell me themselves. And even then, I still don't really wanna hear it."

"Aw come on! You're just no fun."

"Whatever." Haruhi pointedly ignored the twins as she moved to collect her school supplies, and stood up from her desk. "Let's just get to the clubroom already. Maybe then you can gawk at them some more."

The redheads simultaneously stuck out their tongues. Still, they trotted after her as she left the classroom.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... But you totally thought it sounded dirty when Honey-senpai asked if the boss wanted to have a lick of his ice cream, right? 'Cause we wanted to laugh-..."

"Ughhhhhh..."

Kyoya snapped his book shut quietly. That would do for now. It was just about time for the guests to start showing up. Everyone else would surely be there any minute...

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Mori-senpai, who seemingly hadn't moved a muscle since Kyoya had come in. He briefly considered saying something- and then discarded the notion just as quickly. It wasn't his place to get involved.

The door swung open, and he swiftly turned his head. An irritated looking Haruhi strode in, flanked by Hikaru and Kaoru, who were babbling about something he didn't care to pay a great deal of attention to.

"Hey Kyoya-senpai." She muttered. Her expression changed when she spotted the silent boy by the window.

Blink.

Slowly, she took a step closer to the bespectacled boy. The twins appeared to have finally realized she was ignoring them, as they lost interest and drifted off to set up some tables and chairs. All the better that they weren't looming around within earshot, really...

"Kyoya-senpai? Is Mori-senpai alright? He looks kind of upset."

"I wouldn't know." He stated simply as he adjusted his glasses. "It would most likely be best to ask him yourself."

"Fair enough..."

The soft footsteps failed to register in Mori's ears. It wasn't until the owner of the feet spoke that he bothered to turn his eyes away from the sky outside.

"Hey Mori-senpai. Everything alright?"

He turned to look at her fully. The small girl stood before him, a clearly curious expression on her face.

"..." He seemed to hesitate. "... Yeah."

Haruhi eyed him uncertainly. "If you say so..." She had occasionally had trouble reading people, that was true. In fact, even the most blatantly obvious of clues a person could drop often failed to tip her off that something was amiss. Everyone knew this. Even then, she still suspected that something was not quite well with her senpai. His acting was just _that_ bad.

"... Does this have anything to do with Tamaki-senpai and Honey-senpai-...?"

As if on cue, from across the room, the doors opened once more. All heads turned to the pair who walked inside, fingers intertwined. None other than the Host Club's resident princely character and boy lolita, of course. And both were all smiles.

"Hi everybody!"

"Good afternoon, my lovely family~"

"Right on time." Kyoya said, inclining his head towards the two of them and reopening his little black book, which he proceeded to examine closely in front of his face. In truth, it was to hide a smile.

Her previous worries temporarily forgotten, Haruhi smiled at them. The two of them really looked incredibly cheerful...

"Hey you guys. I'm guessing things went good yesterday." She said playfully.

"You bet!" Honey beamed, breaking free from his boyfriend's grasp to rush over and give her a big hug.

"Whoa! Hey now..."

"What's up lovebirds?" The twins grinned mischievously. Tamaki shot them the nastiest glare he had and refused to dignify them with any further response. They would not ruin his good mood today, no sir.

"I'm happy for you guys." Haruhi said, once she had finally managed to get the small boy to release his hold on her. And she was. Even if she didn't want to know all the finer details of their relationship, they seemed happy. And that was all that mattered, right?

"If we're all done chatting, I believe we'd ought to get our cosplay together before the ladies arrive..."

"Of course, of course!" The prince declared excitedly. "But... I'm still a little bit confused. I'm supposed to look like a fireman or something, right? What are chippendale dancers again, Kyoya?"

"Something that's going to make me a lot of money..." He muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" He asked, before shrugging and dropping the subject. Eh, he'd understand once he put the costume on, right?

"Right then. Everyone, let's start getting ready for-..."

"Tamaki."

The rest of the sentence died on the tip of his tongue. Puzzled, the prince looked to where the voice had sounded from...

The table by the window.

"Mitsukuni."

The two boys in question stared, before exchanging glances with each other. With a shrug from Honey and growing apprehension from Tamaki, both blondes slowly approached the table.

"Yeeeees Mori-senpai?"  
"What is it, Takashi?"

At first, he said nothing. The other members watched from across the room. Quietly, the twins began making bets with each other on whether Mori was going to inflict some bodily injury on Tamaki. Tamaki, who could still hear them, felt it very unfair that he could not, at the moment, get in on this betting.

"...Mitsukuni, I'm sorry about yesterday."

He glanced at his best friend for only a second, before his eyes darted away.

"... And Tamaki."

"Awwww. It's okay, Takashi." He smiled gently. Tamaki, in turn, nodded nervously.

"... I wasn't sure if Tamaki would treat you correctly." He continued, in a barely audible voice. "I didn't know whether he would be able to take care of you. Or how often he brushed his teeth."

Finally, he turned towards the two of them, eyes downcast.

"... But most of all, I was afraid that Tamaki was trying to take you away from me. That was very silly of me, and I was being selfish. I'm sorry."

Without hesitation, Honey just leaned forward and patted him on the head. "I forgive you, Takashi."

"..."

Tamaki, on the other hand, said nothing.

… And continued to say nothing.

The older blonde finally turned to him with a small, expectant smile. It turned to a frown however, when still, the other said nothing.

Then everyone went silent. Even the twins. Everyone held their breath, wondering what would happen next.

Was Tamaki... angry?

Mori frowned to himself. Surely he was angry. Surely he was going to yell. After all, he had overstepped his boundaries. Moreso with Mitsukuni than with Tamaki, he felt, but Mitsukuni cared about Tamaki, so truly, it was just as bad.

…

"... Awwwwwwww! It's okay, Mori-senpai~!"

Now, Takashi Morinozuka was not an easily flustered person. Sure, he had been surprised when Honey had defeated his brother Yasuchika in battle. Sure, he had been surprised when he'd begun to notice that Tamaki seemed to have feelings for his cousin. And he had been DANG surprised, almost to the point of his jaw hitting the floor, when Mitsukuni had gone and asked the younger boy on a date in front of the entire club. But nothing could compare to how incredibly startled he was when Tamaki jumped into his lap, thrust his arms around his neck in a suffocating hug, and started to roughly nuzzle his cheek. The expression on his face as this happened could only be interpreted as: **OHSWEETLORD.**

"I forgive you too Mori-senpai! After all, you were only looking after Mitsukuni! It was truly a selfless act of kindness done out of concern for your cousin and close friend! I'll never forget this love and devotion you've consistently shown towards the boy we both hold so dear! NEVER!"

"Get... him off me..."

Amusement very poorly hidden, Honey pried Tamaki from the taller boy's person. Thankfully, he seemed just as content to then direct his affections towards the smaller boy and wrapped around him instead.

"... Well then..." Kyoya said slowly. "Shall we...?"

"Right!" The prince chirped, reluctantly untangling himself from the older boy, who gave him a peck on the cheek as he did so.

"One last thing..."

The spotlight was back on the tall, dark-haired boy. He let out a small cough as he struggled to regain the rest of his composure. He was going to file away this incident to the vault, and never think about it again.

"... Kyoya had a hidden camera crew disguised as regular people on the street following the both of you yesterday. I overheard two of them talking while I was feeding the pigeons."

"KYOYA-!"  
"KYO-CHAN-!"

"What? The DVD is selling very well with the ladies."

Students began to pour out of Ouran High School and make their way to their fancy cars as the sun began it's lazy descent from the sky. After a fairly average day, save for a mishap with a can of commoner whipped cream, the hosts had said their farewells, and adjourned for the day. An extremely adorable goodbye hug and kiss had been shared by two certain blondes, which the twins wasted no time making fun of, before they too had parted ways.

One of them had remained on school grounds, though. Seated across from him on one of the larger tree branches, was his cousin.

"No one could take me away from you, Takashi, and I would never, EVER replace you. You know better than that."

The boy in question simply nodded.

"I love you just the same as I always have. I just love Tama-chan now, too."

Another nod.

"I'm sure we'll all be best friends forever. And someday, you'll find someone you love the way I love Tama-chan."

Again, he said nothing. However, a tiny smile managed to creep it's way onto his face.

"I know, Mitsukuni."

Honey smiled back at him sweetly.

"I promise that I'll never forget. I don't know what came over me..."

Slowly, he turned to gaze at the lovely colors all mixed together in the sky, his smile growing just a fraction wider.

"... It was probably just cabin fever."

**And that is the very definitely last chapter. I felt that how Mori was feeling about the goings-on really wasn't explored well at all, and Haruhi's part in the story ended awkwardly, but the last chapter was already running long, so I left it out. Now hopefully we have sufficient closure. Yay!**

**Now for some unrelated ramblings (unrelated to the fic, it IS Ouran-related, however), I just wanted to share with you guys the experience I recently had at A2F- Arkansas Anime Festival. There's a cosplay group that does Ouran events (I believe they also do Hetalia), freaking awesome cosplayers, I'd say the name but I don't know if they'd have any objection to that. Anyway, first they had a panel and they also do tea parties- they serve cupcakes and dance with the attendees, it's great. Well I'd been talking to the leader (the Tamaki cosplayer) some several weeks before the con, to ask if they would possibly be willing to cosplay at my birthday party. While they couldn't make it, instead, they had a surprise waiting for me at the tea party- Tamaki crowned me Queen [my name] of the Host Club and gave me a tiara. I got a kiss on the hand and we danced, and then Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru pretended to fight over me. BEST. DAY. EVER. **

**Thus ends the ramblings. See you next time!**

**- YummyYaoiSandwiches**


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